CUNA Taking Sides in Ohio Democratic Primary

CUNA is backing Marcy Kaptur over Dennis Kucinich in the Democratic primary race for the newly formed Ninth Congressional District in Ohio.

Voters go to the polls to decide the matter on Tuesday. The winner is expected to face Joe the Plumber in the fall.

Kaptur has represented Ohio's existing Ninth Congressional District since 1993 and Kucinich has represented the current Tenth Congressional District since 1997.

After Ohio lost one congressional seat due to the 2010 census, a Republican-dominated legislature redrew the district maps to pit the two long-term Democratic lawmakers against each other.

Each of the representatives have supported credit union interests in Congress in the past, but CUNA's political staff reported in a press call that the association is backing Kaptur, stressing that the decision was not between a non-supporter and a supporter but between which lawmaker had been the more supportive.

“Kaptur has stepped out for credit unions on a number of issues,” explained Richard Gose, senior vice president for political affairs for CUNA.

The race will pit Kucinich's national reputation for supporting liberal causes (he has been a presidential candidate twice, in 2004 and 2008) versus Kaptur's larger base in the new district (CUNA staff cited reports that 47% of the new district came from Kaptur's Ninth and 34% from Kucinich's Tenth).

The winner of this contest will almost certainly face Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (aka Joe the Plumber) in November as Wurzelbacher is the only candidate on the Republican side.

Wurzelbacher came to national attention in October 2008 after he objected as Joe the Plumber to then-candidate Barack Obama's plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire for those making $250,000 or more. Subsequent reporting indicated that he did not have a plumber's license and he later accused John McCain's presidential campaign of trying to “use” him in an election ploy.